Mar 16, 2015 11:56 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A group of Oregon State University (OSU) scientists made playing dodgeball against a robot look easy, hitting it every time they threw a ball, but they failed in their objective.

The OSU Dynamic Robotics Laboratory (DRL) released a video last week showing scientists pelting a bi-pedal robot named ATRIAS with dodgeballs. But in throwing the balls at close range, they were not trying to see if ATRIAS could leap out of the way, but rather if it could keep its balance.

And it did. The DRL team even published a video earlier in the month with a far less subtle testing method in which they kicked ATRIAS more than half a dozen times. The bot was still able to stay upright.

It was not until one scientist hit ATRIAS' emergency shut down button with a ball that the robot stopped moving.

"When this robot gets up to speed for walking, not even running yet, it will be the fastest bipedal robot in the world," Jonathan Hurst, an associate professor and robotic expert at the OSU College of Engineering, told KGW.

ATRIAS stands for Assume The Robot Is A Sphere, representing "our philosophy for designing ATRIAS, to make it as close to a simple spring-mass system as we can," the DRL wrote on the robot's official website.

ATRIAS also has its own Twitter account where it posts news articles about the robot and gives occasional progress reports.

The scientists told KGW their robot stands apart because it was designed to emulate birds rather than humans. They hope they can one day be able to develop more effective and natural-feeling prosthetic limbs. A robot like ATRIAS could also be sent into dangerous natural disaster sites.

"ATRIAS is designed to move like a simple 'spring-mass' model, a theoretical model which is comparable to a pogo stick," the OSU DRL said on the website. "This springy model can both walk and run with remarkable energy economy and in a fashion highly similar to humans and other animals."

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